Chapter 140: The Alter Ego Says He Loves Me (29)
“I want to ask you something. Is it convenient to let me in?”
Xiao Ji asked, looking at those cloudy old eyes.
The old lady inside the house looked at Xiao Ji and asked tentatively:
“Are you… guests of the Cao family?”
Xiao Ji nodded. Before he could even speak, the old lady immediately prepared to close the door.
Fortunately, Xiao Ji was quick-handed. He pushed the door open forcefully with one hand and subdued the old lady on the spot.
Three minutes later, the four were sitting in the old lady’s living room. Xiao Ji held the snatched walking stick, pressing it under the old lady’s throat:
“Tell us about the Cao family.”
The old lady was forced by necessity and spoke reluctantly:
“What do you want to know?”
Xiao Ji said, “Who is the mistress’s younger sister going to have a wedding with?”
Hearing this, the old lady’s eyelids twitched visibly a few times.
“With Cao Jiu, the husband of the Cao mistress.”
Everyone looked at each other. Xiao Ji followed up:
“Haven’t both these people already died? How did they die?”
The old lady’s yellowed pupils swept over several people, and she looked out the window in all directions before lowering her voice:
“This Cao Jiu, he was an opera fanatic. He was poor in his early years and somehow married a young lady from a wealthy family, which is this Mistress Cao, Ding Xiu.”
“Ding Xiu didn’t understand opera, but she was truly good to Cao Jiu. She spent a great deal to build an opera theater for him at the east end of the village. Unfortunately, her health was poor, and she couldn’t get pregnant. Over time, Cao Jiu began to have other thoughts.”
“Coincidentally, something happened to the Ding family, and Xiu’er’s unmarried younger sister, Ding Yun, came to seek refuge with her. Ding Xiu didn’t understand opera, but Ding Yun understood it very well. Her good voice was like a lark’s; she was truly likable.”
The result was obvious. Cao Jiu and Ding Yun hit it off immediately and even began to engage in some shameful dealings behind Ding Xiu’s back at the theater.
And not long after, a baby girl was added to the Cao family.
Externally, it was claimed that the child was born to Ding Xiu, but the truth was an open secret among the villagers.
Ding Xiu stopped going out, but Ding Yun still often followed Cao Jiu to the Red Plum Theater.
Three years later, when Ding Xiu reappeared in the sight of the villagers, her mental state was very poor, yet she was heavily pregnant.
After the Cao family’s baby boy was born, not long after, Ding Yun went inexplicably crazy and personally strangled that girl who was less than four years old.
Cao Jiu and Ding Yun had a dispute in the theater. A prop hanging from the ceiling suddenly fell and hit Cao Jiu on the head. By the time Ding Yun called people to help, Cao Jiu was already out of breath.
Three days later, Ding Yun committed suicide by hanging, and Ding Xiu suddenly began to organize the wedding of Ding Yun and Cao Jiu.
What a dramatic ethical play.
However, if it were said that the little girl who used dead objects as toys was actually born to Ding Yun and personally strangled by her, then the female ghost’s wariness toward the little girl was explained.
After listening, Xiao Yinnian hit the key point directly: “Isn’t there also an old gentleman in this Cao family?”
As soon as the Old Master Cao was mentioned, the old lady’s face suddenly changed. Then, as if she had suddenly gone mad, she leaned back and collapsed to the ground, crawling while shouting:
“Don’t bury me, don’t bury me! I’m still young, I’m still young!”
Su Wan was about to chase after her but was stopped by Xiao Ji:
“No need. Nothing else can be asked.”
Su Wan didn’t understand. “Why did she react so strongly all of a sudden? What is she afraid of?”
Everyone looked at each other. After a long while, Xiao Ji said:
“If I’m not mistaken, it should be a ‘Waguan Fen’ (Jar Tomb).”
This kind of thing had long disappeared in modern society, but listening to what the old lady had just said, in this ghostly place, it instantly made Xiao Ji think of this kind of folk culture again.
It was also called “Sixty Years to the Granary” (六十還倉).
In the past, in some places, elderly people over sixty were regarded as abandoned children without labor capacity and should no longer be a burden to their families.
Their children would build a “Jar Tomb,” send the elderly into the tomb, and then start sealing the jar’s opening.
The descendants would come to deliver one meal every day and, at the same time, seal the jar’s opening with one more brick.
After adding three hundred and sixty bricks, the entire tomb would be sealed tight, which was equivalent to burying the elderly alive inside.
After listening, Xiao Yinnian frowned:
“In other words, if we want to find Old Master Cao, we have to find the village’s graves first?”
Xiao Ji gave an “en” sound. “Let’s try it.”
It was already too late to look for graves now, and in such a large village with no one to lead the way, finding graves in a limited amount of time was also not an easy task.
Xiao Ji looked at the grandfather clock in the old lady’s house and quickly made a decision:
“Go watch the play first.”
On the way, he assigned what the four people were to do tomorrow.
According to what the old lady said, these events hadn’t happened for very long. Old Master Cao should still be alive even if buried, and Ding Xiu should still be delivering food to Old Master Cao every day.
Xiao Ji prepared to take Xiao Yinnian to follow Ding Xiu to find Old Master Cao, and let Lin Chuan and Su Wan take this time to go to Ding Xiu’s room to get the keys to the upstairs.
But hearing this, Lin Chuan said: “Su Wan and I will go follow her. My status is special and not easy to be discovered. You and Yin-ge go steal the keys.”
On this point, what Lin Chuan said was indeed true, and Xiao Ji didn’t continue to argue with him.
Arriving at the theater again, all four of them instinctively lightened their footsteps.
And Xiao Ji also saw at a glance Chang-ge, who appeared in the crowd as usual.
Xiao Yinnian gave a “tse” and said in a low, regretful voice:
“How come he hasn’t died yet?”
Xiao Ji pondered for a moment: “For two consecutive days, that little kid appeared in the courtyard alone. Without surprise, this time is the time for Ding Xiu to deliver food.”
Xiao Yinnian frowned: “Then if that’s the case, won’t we have to violate the rules tomorrow and not come to watch the play?”
Xiao Ji comfortingly put his arm around his waist:
“It doesn’t matter. Maybe tomorrow, we can leave.”
Everyone sat down one after another. Except for Su Wan, who sat next to Xiao Ji’s group tonight, the others almost all sat in their old positions from yesterday.
But different from yesterday, today’s play was no longer a one-man show.
Yesterday’s curtain was also gone. After the lights went out and lit up again, five people were standing on the stage.
Their bodies were stiff, emitting different singing styles.
And these five people—it didn’t need to be mentioned—were all their dead teammates.
An eerie play was being performed on the stage.
But perhaps because the person crushed to death by the beam yesterday had flesh that was too tattered, while they were performing, parts of their body were also falling off.
After a head-shaking pose, an eyeball flew out just like that, hit the bridge of the nose of the girl next to Chang-ge, and then fell into her palm.
Trembling whimpers sounded. It clearly couldn’t be called loud screaming, but the heavy sword hanging from the ceiling still fell down, cutting off half of the girl’s body.
Xiao Yinnian closed his eyes and buried his cheek in Xiao Ji’s shoulder.
Xiao Ji looked up at the precariously swaying props on the ceiling and also realized that this mission world was almost a dead loop.
Violating the mistress’s orders would lead to death; following the mistress’s orders would lead to increasingly strict rules.
If they couldn’t break the game soon, everyone would sooner or later be buried here.
Translator’s Note: The “Waguan Fen” or “Jar Tomb” is a real, albeit horrifying, piece of ancient folklore in some parts of Asia, reflecting the harsh realities of ancient poverty. The imagery of the dead teammates being used as puppets on stage is truly nightmare fuel. Xiao Ji is definitely feeling the pressure to end this “loop.” Hang in there, Yin-ge!
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